Green

First, Happy St. Patrick's Day. My family is Irish on my mother's side for sure, and suddenly I'm drawing a blank on my dad's side. Dad's side definitely has some English...



Anyway, by Green--in the title--I mean spondulas. Bucks. Do-re-mi. As in conserving money.



The homemade laundry soap was a success. The first test was dog towels. There were many, coming off a long weekend of rain. And I think there was a dog cleanup towel too, from one stolen strawberry too many. Anyway, 5 towels, large load, 2 tablespoons homemade Laundry Soap. Clean, fresh smelling towels came out. This can't be, I thought. It was too easy.



So I went about gathering up the my towels. The ones that sometimes possibly get eyeshadow or mascara on them. Plus a few kitchen towels that had mopped up minor messes. Large load, 3 tablespoons of laundry soap since there was make-up on the handtowel and I didn't pretreat the stains. This time I added the distilled vinegar in the softener dispenser. Didn't I mention it? Distilled (white) vinegar softens. I know, amazing. And if you want a fragrance you can add essential oil of whatever you like to the vinegar for the rinse.



Now you can google to get a liquid laundry soap recipe - the ingredients are basically the same plus cooking and water. It sounded too messy to me and storage would be a problem, for me, anyway.



So I did dry. And found it here first. One bar of soap, grated, 1 cup borax, and 1 cup washing soda. And a cool container would be nice, but I used something I had.






I saved a nub of the Fels Naptha to treat spots with - it's in a little baggie with the wrapper so I will have the instructions. Now, I've also read that I can use Ivory bar soap, or a Castile bar soap. So you have options.

Oh, and interestingly, my usual Publix didn't have everything, but the Kroger did.

Well, my towels came out fresh and clean. No fragrance, but clean smelling. I am a believer. And maybe by the end of the year, richer!

One more test is underway: the dishwasher. I read that 1 tbsp washing soda + 1 tbsp borax = dishwasher soap. So, at this moment, my dishwasher is running. And the laundry softener from the laundry test? I put it in the rinse aid dispenser because I understand it gets rid of water spots.

Wrapping it Up

Okay, it's been a while since I've come up with an Poverty Post offering. Let's not waste time thinking why that might be.

Tonight I came up with mine: wrapping paper.

You know those premium rolls you buy from co-worker's children to raise money for schools?

The kind that's great quality, heavy duty and beautiful?

And they are stored safely upstairs in your attic/bonus room?

And you had your family over at Thanksgiving?

And went upstairs to see what was so amusing that it kept the cousins upstairs running around for a looooong time?

And found them using the premium wrapping paper rolls as swords in their mock battles?

Well, alrighty then, you know about having to come up with an alternative to that paper since you don't want to buy more.

Here's mine: paper grocery bags. I know it's not a new idea, but it's a good idea. And good ideas should be shared. Anyway, paper bag wrapping with your cool ribbon that could not be put to use in the mock sword fights looks pretty great. I briefly thought of putting the store logo on the back, but decided that treating it like a Polo, Coach, or Juicy logo could be fun.

Bonus: uses something that is taking up space in my small house!

Plus this particular package was wrapped with a bag from Trader Joe's. Did I mention I'm thinking of moving in with Trader Joe?

Library Card

Edited to add that I appreciate the kindness of the readers who did not point out the gross misspelling in the title and through out the post, which has now been fixed. Libary , indeed!

When I was 8 or so, I began riding my bike to the public library, which was housed in what was the original Troy State Teachers College building. When I was a child it was behind the building that housed City Hall, the fire department and the jail. Home was about 3/4 of a mile away, out Elm Street. It took a lot of googling, but I think this is the building as the college.





Nancy Drew, Misty of Chincoteague, The Black Stallion, the Phyllis Whitney books, Little House on the Prairie, all these and more sparked my imagination there. I must have read a room full of biographies - they were short, and written for children. I remember Edison, Babe Ruth, Abraham Lincoln and Tom Thumb just to name a few. There were no obvious moves to censor what I read, although in Troy I'm sure if I'd picked something inappropriate, either the librarian (whom I can see in my minds eye but can't recall her name) would have redirected me or called home to let them know.



The building itself was wonderful. Broad marble or granite steps led to double doors which opened onto oak hardwoods worn smooth from students and readers. The circulation desk was straight ahead, with the card catalog to the left I believe. Children's books on the right, adult books on the left.



I loved it there.



So when I started making my own money, I bought myself books. I forgot how lovely it was to walk into a library and feel like you had the whole world available to you in the card catalog files. And I'm one of those people who can read a book but it looks brand new when they finish. Yep, I'm one of those.



Over time, the books have taken over. Upstairs I have several 3 shelf bookshelves full of books and the built in shelves are full as well. Downstairs they are tucked in everywhere.



Enter the late economic turbulence. Bossy started this "Poverty Party" and I signed up. Now, after working at it, the only debt I have is my mortgage. But I do have some pretty self indulgent spending habits, so I think this is the time to adjust those.



So, I have decided to stop buying books. Well, let's be reasonable. This is me. I will stop buying the popular fiction books. Any books that I come across that I must have a personal copy of I will evaluate a purchase then. This should allow me to try new recommendations - I love to listen to Nancy Pearl podcasts and I have her books - without making either a capital outlay or find space for the book. There's no telling how much space or money I will save.


To that end, I got my library card today. It was empowering. Although the branch nearest my home is somewhat limited, a huge branch is located near my office, and only two blocks away. Getting out for a walk at lunch is another good thing.



Now to edit the books that have already taken up residence. But that's another day.



See you at the library!